Exploring how design-driven foresight can support strategic thinking in relation to sustainability and circular policy making

Urgent and consequential issues related to climate change are driving forth the question of how to equip individuals with the competencies required to address sustainability issues. Strategic thinking is recognized as a key competency for developing plans and policy interventions that redirect social-ecological systems from unsustainable linear trajectories towards sustainable circular futures. Yet, the question of how strategic thinking capabilities can be cultivated, taught, or supported remains underexplored. In this study strategic thinking is associated with four central activities: vision thinking, divergent thought processing, reflection and systems thinking. The central aim of this paper is to explore how design-driven foresight, i.e. those approaches that combine design and foresight methods and tools, can support
strategic thinking across these four activities and in relation to sustainability and circular policy making. This paper draws on two design experiments conducted with Service Design Master students at a Danish University.